Vancouver Art Gallery
CLICK ON PHOTO FOR LARGER VERSION
Robson Street side of the Art Gallery packed with people drawn in by the rally and speeches!
Kelly White, Coast Salish Elder & Indigenous Media Activist on Kla How Ya Radio - 102.7FM CO-OP Radio
Luciano Sanchez, member of the Global Justice & Peace Committee of the Hospital Employees Union of BC
Sophie Ziner, Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba organizer & route coordinator with 2007 Pastors for Peace Friendship Caravan to Cuba
DJ C_Lo and SOS - mighty Emcee from the antiwar hip hop crew, Influents
Sarah Alwell, Free the Cuban 5 Committee-Vancouver
MAWO Co-Chair Kira Koshelanyk
Max Tennant, MAWO Organizer, reads the final resolution of the demonstration - passed by the cheers of an energetic crowd!
Finding out more information on the occupation of Afghanistan and signing the 13,000 signature strong petition
Distributing new MAWO newsletter #15!
|
|
REPORT
Vancouver, BC – Over 150 protesters participated in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery, demanding “Canada out to Afghanistan!” “US/UK Out of Iraq!” and “Self-Determination for All Oppressed Nations!” The words of the speakers on the stage and the crowds chants attracted passerby’s who picked up protest signs and joined in this important action, organized by Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO).
Kelly White, a Coast Salish Elder and Indigenous media activist welcomed everyone to the rally with a traditional welcome and a surprise hip hop rhyme that got the crowd geared up for the dynamic program. She was followed by Luciano Sanchez, member of the Global Justice & Peace Committee of the Hospital Employees Union of BC, who related examples of imperialist aggression and resistance from Latin America. The next speaker was Sophie Ziner from Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba, to talk as a 3rd time caravanista on the Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba that leaves Vancouver next week to protest the immoral blockade and undeclared war on Cuba. After MAWO organizer Shakeel Lochan announced MAWO’s upcoming Hip Hop Festival Against War and Occupation 3, Hip Hop MC SOS and DJ C-lo gave the crowd a taste of the festival with rhymes of resistance that got everyone’s hands in the air!
Sarah Alwell, an organizer with the Free the Cuban 5 Committee - Vancouver and a student at Capilano College, followed the musical interlude to talk about the hypocrisy of the US war on terror, as 5 Cuban heroes are in US jails for investigating anti-Cuban terrorist groups in the US. Next Kira Koshelanyk, a MAWO Co-chair, talked on the expanding era of war and occupation, and read an inspiring poem of the strong resistance to occupation written by an Afghan women and fighter. To read the resolution, a testament of the days rally representing all oppressed nations, was Max Tennant, from the University of Victoria Students Against War, and the resolution was passed with strong cheers from the crowd.
The rally ended with the promise to be back again on the streets, as the expanding era of war and occupation must be matched by consistent opposition to oppression and injustice that this rally brought to the streets today!
|
